Ryan Bippus, Staff Writer
- Chicago Cubs win World Series – The Chicago Cubs broke a long-standing “curse.” Until their most recent World Series win, the franchise suffered a 108-year drought. The Cubs broke the curse in style, winning three in a row after the series fell to 3-1 in favor of the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs are only one of six teams to accomplish this feat and the first team since 1985.
- Leicester City wins Premier League – This is the Cinderella story no one saw coming. Leicester City had only been in the top tier of English soccer, the Premier League, for two years. The previous season Leicester City ended the year 14th on the table racking up 40 points. They started the 2015-16 Premier League campaign with 5000:1 odds to win the league while other teams sat with 2:1 and 5:1 odds. By the time the season had concluded, Leicester City was in first on the table with 81 points. Striker Jamie Vardy and Midfielder Riyad Mahrez, virtual no-names, became stars and helped capture the foxes’ first ever Premier League title in 48 seasons in the top tier.
- Cleveland Cavaliers win NBA Championship – The Cleveland Cavaliers broke a 42-year championship drought for the city of Cleveland, being the first Cleveland based team to win a championship in any major sport in that time. They battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Golden State Warriors. This was the first time any team had blown a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals.
- March Madness – The 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, or March Madness, was madness. Upsets were more common than ever in the tournament. The biggest upset, coming in the first round, No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee beat No. 2 seed Michigan State, marking only the eighth time in the history of the tournament a No. 15 beat a No. 2. Every seed had won at least one game except for the 16th seed. The tournament ended in true March Madness style with a 3-point buzzer-beater to secure Villanova the championship over North Carolina.
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Penguins defy early season odds to win the Stanley Cup – The Penguins did not get off to the start they wanted and by mid-December had fired their head coach Mike Johnston. Mike Sullivan took the reins and turned the team around and improved their record from 15-10-3 to 48-26-8. The Pens finished second in the Metropolitan Division and played a tough schedule in the playoffs but managed to hoist Lord Stanley for the fourth time in franchise history.
- Michael Phelps wins most Olympic gold medals of all time – Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Phelps holds 28 Olympic medals including 23 gold medals. Phelps won five medals in Rio, five of them gold.
- Portugal wins European Championship despite loss of Ronaldo – The Portuguese national men’s soccer team captured the country’s first UEFA European Championship in the summer of this year. They won the final after losing repeat Player of the Year winner Cristiano Ronaldo early in the first half. Portugal earned their first tournament final win in 1-0 game against the host nation of France.
- Fab Five US women gymnast all medal – The “Fab Five” US Women’s Gymnastics team secured multiple gold medals in Rio and captured the team event for the second Olympics in a row.
- Coastal Carolina wins College World Series – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers won their first College World Series Championship over Arizona. The small college shocked everyone and won the championship in three games.
- Peyton Manning wins Super Bowl in final career game
– Broncos’ and future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning played and won in his final Super Bowl. The Broncos defeated the Panthers to send Manning out on a high. Manning, who retired after the Super Bowl, ended his career with his second Super Bowl win, first with the Broncos.